Culture, Heritage, Remembrance

Tales of Teleki Square

About this project

The last house of prayer in a private home of Józsefváros (8th district of Budapest), at 22 Teleki Square has survived the hardships of the past 100 years and still welcomes its guests even today. The new generation has decided to explore the history of the place. We made recordings of many hours with the former heart of the house of prayer, Jakab Gláser, uncle Juci, and other members of the congregation. We are making a trilogy of documentaries with the overall title "The Tales of Teleki Square". The first part is about uncle Juci. The second part, "Tales of Teleki Square" is about the community of past and present and the Jewish history of the neighborhood. The working title of the third part is "It will only be greener than this in spring" introducing the 1940s and the events in the 8th district in 1944.

Why is it important?

While the uncle Juci part focuses on one person's life and the community of the house of prayer, the next has a broader perspective introducing the life of the Jewish community of the 8th district. The third opens up the historical perspective even more. The interviews, situations, and testimonies unfold an entirely obscure, now-lost world.

Why is it special?

In the market of Teleki Square and its environment, there was a vibrant Jewish life and a major kosher infrastructure, the house of prayer is the last remaining and operating remnant. Recording and passing on the story of the shtiebel and its old members enable us to gain an insight into a face of Budapest already forgotten. The specialty of the films is that they introduce people who simply recall their memories, if possible, in those actual places that bring back these memories. They talk because someone is interested. They were silent because they thought nobody cared about their story. Therefore these images are in these situations particularly intense. All this process had been recorded for over 15 years, starting in 2003.